AFTER abruptly closing over two years ago, one of Minehead’s favourite venues – the picturesque Blenheim Gardens cafe – will be opening again under new management when Covid-19 restrictions allow.

The venue was popular with families with young children and customers were shocked in November 2018 when Suzanne Dean, whose family had run the cafe for 50 years, had her lease terminated with only a few days’ notice. The 100-year-old building has been boarded up ever since.

Now Somerset West and Taunton Council, owners of the venue, have accepted a bid to run the cafe from three people who run businesses in the town – William Wynn and Lorraine Pegler of Café Bar 21 in the Avenue, and businesswoman Jackie Sherwood.

Their bid was judged to have the highest score of the five which were submitted to the council’s assets team to take over a 20-year lease on the property.

This week Jackie said: “We are extremely pleased and honoured to have been given the opportunity to rejuvenate the cafe, which has been an important part of Minehead life, and we intend to follow the high standards achieved by the previous owners.

“There is a considerable amount of work to be done but we will be bringing the cafe back to life while keeping the ambience and the traditions which made it so popular for so long.”

For the full story, see this week’s West Somerset Free Press.